Phyllis McGinley

The Angry Man - Poem by Phyllis McGinley

The other day I chanced to meetAn angry man upon the street —A man of wrath, a man of war,A man who truculently boreOver his shoulder, like a lance,A banner labeled “Tolerance.”

And when I asked him why he strodeThus scowling down the human road,Scowling, he answered, “I am heWho champions total liberty —Intolerance being, ma’am, a stateNo tolerant man can tolerate.

“When I meet rogues,” he cried, “who chooseTo cherish oppositional views,Lady, like this, and in this manner,I lay about me with my bannerTill they cry mercy, ma’am.” His blowsRained proudly on prospective foes.

Fearful, I turned and left him thereStill muttering, as he thrashed the air,“Let the Intolerant beware!”